Greetings,
We have been in a series that is intense and at times very stretching. There are purposes for this knowledge, and what we will discuss this week will be one of those purposes. We left off by saying that the restrainer of 2 Thessalonians 2:7 is primarily responsible for maintaining the divide or “veil” that separates our dimension from the dimensions where many of these fallen angels are trapped.
“Do you not recollect that when I was still with you, I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining him [from being revealed at this time]; it is so that he may be manifested (revealed) in his own [appointed] time. For the mystery of lawlessness (that hidden principle of rebellion against constituted authority) is already at work in the world, [but it is] restrained only until he who restrains is taken out of the way.” (2 Thessalonians 2:5-7 AMP)
In order to understand the job of “he who restrains” it really becomes necessary to understand what the mystery of lawlessness is. The word translated as mystery is the Greek word musterion. This word primarily means that which was hidden now being revealed. Its primary relevance in the Roman culture was the information which was known to the mustes or initiated ones. The initiated ones were the practitioners of the mystery religions. In other words, the mysteries were the secret knowledge practiced and passed down by occult adepts. Here Paul makes the distinction “mystery of lawlessness” because he uses the same word musterion in other writings to refer to mysteries found in Christ. Here he wants us to know that the activity associated with mystery religions was well and alive in the earth. This is still true today.
Mystery religions practice the occult. That’s what they do. They are responsible for doing rituals associated with summoning demons or even fallen angels. In order to summon certain fallen angels, as we discussed in last week’s email, they must be called out of their dimensions and into ours. This means that the mysteries these people practice will allow them to “sidestep,” so-to-speak, the barrier that separates our dimension from others. It is this activity that Paul is relating to the work of the restrainer. In other words, while the restrainer maintains dimensional separation, there is an ongoing effort to sidestep what the restrainer was put there to do.
I’m not going to try to prove the identity of the restrainer to you but I will say this: the text does not tell us who it is. Some say it’s the Holy Spirit. The problem with this idea is that the Holy Spirit is God and God is omnipresent. How can an omnipresent being ever be “taken out” or removed from anywhere?
In any case, whoever this restrainer is, he will one day be taken out of the way. If you have followed me up to this point then you have probably figured out what I am getting at. The problem is that when the force is removed that separates the earth from the dimensions where many fallen angels are trapped, our world will quickly change in many ways that elude the imagination. Today we deal with disembodied spirits of dead nephilim. They are like cupcakes when compared with the power of beings that are the direct creation of God.
Consider this: the angel of the Lord killed 185,000 men in one night (2 Kings 19:35). No destruction like this has ever been affiliated with a petty demon. We are talking about two entirely different classes of entities. Are we really prepared for spiritual warfare to move to a whole other echelon? This is why I am spending an entire year on the topic of spiritual warfare. In Christ we have the victory, but we need to be prepared to enforce it. As what I am explaining to you begins to manifest, those that are unprepared and those that are lukewarm will undoubtedly fall away.
The passage in 2 Thessalonians 2 continues to link the removal of the restrainer to the manifestation of the lawless one, otherwise known as the antichrist.
“And then the lawless one (the antichrist) will be revealed and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of His mouth and bring him to an end by His appearing at His coming. The coming [of the lawless one, the antichrist] is through the activity and working of Satan and will be attended by great power and with all sorts of [pretended] miracles and signs and delusive marvels--[all of them] lying wonders--And by unlimited seduction to evil and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing (going to perdition) because they did not welcome the Truth but refused to love it that they might be saved.” (2 Thessalonians 2:8-10 AMP)
Notice that as we learn about the coming of the antichrist the Bible is clear that many signs, pretend miracles, and lying wonders will accompany him. I have previously explained that this is synonymous with what we see described in the sixth seal. Sure enough, as we read about the sixth seal in the book of Revelation we find that “stars will fall to the earth.” These will include the stars (angels) that are currently kept from us by the restrainer—they will return.
“And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.” (Revelation 6:12-13)
Now that we have established that many fallen angels will be coming to the earth at some point in the future, we have greater clarity on what Jesus meant when He said that the last days would be like the days of Noah. There was a point during Noah’s lifetime when fallen angels, their children, other related abominations, and men all occupied the earth at once. As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man.
“And as it was in the days of [Noah], so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.” (Luke 17:26)
However, even in saying all of this there is still activity I have yet to address. We have established a scriptural understanding for many things, but now we are prepared to dive even deeper. Next week we will get into the topic of genetic engineering and the creation of hybrid creatures and abominations. What we will find is that this is not something to be unveiled in the future. This is already happening.
To be continued…
